Letters to His Son, 1753 to 1754

T >> The Earl of Chesterfield >> Letters to His Son, 1753 to 1754


I want to know your determination, where you intend to (if I may use that
expression) WHILE away your time till the last week in June, when we are
to meet at Spa; I continue rather in the opinion which I mentioned to you
formerly, in favor of The Hague; but however, I have not the least
objection to Dresden, or to any other place that you may like better. If
you prefer the Dutch scheme, you take Treves and Coblentz in your way, as
also Dusseldorp: all which places I think you have not yet seen. At
Manheim you may certainly get good letters of recommendation to the
courts of the two Electors of Treves and Cologne, whom you are yet
unacquainted with; and I should wish you to know them all; for, as I have
often told you, 'olim haec meminisse juvabit'. There is an utility in
having seen what other people have seen, and there is a justifiable pride
in having seen what others have not seen. In the former case, you are
equal to others; in the latter, superior. As your stay abroad will not
now be very long, pray, while it lasts, see everything and everybody you
can, and see them well, with care and attention. It is not to be
conceived of what advantage it is to anybody to have seen more things,
people, and countries, than other people in general have; it gives them a
credit, makes them referred to, and they become the objects of the
attention of the company. They are not out in any part of polite
conversation; they are acquainted with all the places, customs, courts,
and families that are likely to be mentioned; they are, as Monsieur de
Maupertuis justly observes, 'de tous les pays, comme les savans, sont de
tous les tems'. You have, fortunately, both those advantages: the only
remaining point is 'de savoir les faire valoir', for without that one may
as well not have them. Remember that very true maxim of La Bruyere's,
'Qu'on ne vaut dans se monde que ce qu'on veut valoir'. The knowledge of
the world will teach you to what degree you ought to show 'que vous
valez'. One must by no means, on one hand, be indifferent about it; as,
on the other, one must not display it with affectation, and in an
overbearing manner, but, of the two, it is better to show too much than
too little. Adieu.




LETTER CCII

BATH, November 27, 1754

MY DEAR FRIEND: I heartily congratulate you upon the loss of your
political maidenhead, of which I have received from others a very good
account. I hear that you were stopped for some time in your career; but
recovered breath, and finished it very well. I am not surprised, nor
indeed concerned, at your accident; for I remember the dreadful feeling
of that situation in myself; and as it must require a most uncommon share
of impudence to be unconcerned upon such an occasion, I am not sure that
I am not rather glad you stopped. You must therefore now think of
hardening yourself by degrees, by using yourself insensibly to the sound
of your own voice, and to the act (trifling as it seems) of rising up and
sitting down. Nothing will contribute so much to this as committee work
of elections at night, and of private bills in the morning. There, asking
short questions, moving for witnesses to be called in, and all that kind
of small ware, will soon fit you to set up for yourself. I am told that
you are much mortified at your accident, but without reason; pray, let it
rather be a spur than a curb to you. Persevere, and, depend upon it, it
will do well at last. When I say persevere, I do not mean that you should
speak every day, nor in every debate. Moreover, I would not advise you to
speak again upon public matters for some time, perhaps a month or two;
but I mean, never lose view of that great object; pursue it with
discretion, but pursue it always. 'Pelotez en attendant partie'. You know
I have always told you that speaking in public was but a knack, which
those who apply to the most will succeed in the best. Two old members,
very good judges, have sent me compliments upon this occasion; and have
assured me that they plainly find it will do; though they perceived, from
that natural confusion you were in, that you neither said all, nor
perhaps what you intended. Upon the whole, you have set out very well,
and have sufficient encouragement to go on. Attend; therefore,
assiduously, and observe carefully all that passes in the House; for it
is only knowledge and experience that can make a debater. But if you
still want comfort, Mrs.-------I hope, will administer it to you; for, in
my opinion she may, if she will, be very comfortable; and with women, as
with speaking in parliament, perseverance will most certainly prevail
sooner or later.

What little I have played for here, I have won; but that is very far from
the considerable sum which you heard of. I play every evening, from seven
till ten, at a crown whist party, merely to save my eyes from reading or
writing for three hours by candle-light. I propose being in town the week
after next, and hope to carry back with me much more health than I
brought down here. Good-night.

[Mr. Stanhope being returned to England, and seeing his father almost
every day, is the occasion of an interruption of two years in their
correspondence.]




ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS:

According as their interest prompts them to wish
Acquainted with books, and an absolute stranger to men
Affectation of singularity or superiority
All have senses to be gratified
Bolingbroke
Business by no means forbids pleasures
Clamorers triumph
Doing anything that will deserve to be written
Ears to hear, but not sense enough to judge
ERE TITTERING YOUTH SHALL SHOVE YOU FROM THE STAGE
Frederick
Good manners are the settled medium of social life
Good reasons alleged are seldom the true ones
Holiday eloquence
I know myself (no common piece of knowledge, let me tell you)
Indolence
INTOLERATION in religious, and inhospitality in civil matters
Kick him upstairs
King Louis XIV
Look upon indolence as a sort of SUICIDE
Manner is almost everything, in everything
Many are very willing, and very few able
Perseverance has surprising effects
Pettish, pouting conduct is a great deal too young
Reason, which always ought to direct mankind, seldom does
Rendering Jews capable of being naturalized
Rochefoucault
Singularity is only pardonable in old age
Smile, where you cannot strike
To govern mankind, one must not overrate them
Too like, and too exact a picture of human nature
Vanity, interest, and absurdity, always display
Warm and young thanks, not old and cold ones
Writing anything that may deserve to be read
Young men are as apt to think themselves wise enough
Young people are very apt to overrate both men and things